NYC trip reviews (Avenue Q, La Cage, DRS, Wicked)

[Taryn]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 9:59pm

Okay, so I was in NYC Thursday-Sunday and had an absolute BLAST, a good deal because of the WONDERFUL theatre I got to see while I was there.

First, Avenue Q on Thursday night. I'm a big fan of the recording and know of all the songs, so I had some high expectations. There was a little nervousness about Barret Foa, as John Tartaglia is just so WONDERFUL on the recording. Well, as soon as Barret Foa came on and started singing...I was WON. What an adorable, endearing stage presence (along with being supremely easy on the eyes)! The show as a whole completely fulfilled every expectation I had. Everyone was on and amazing. I think Stephanie D'Abruzzo impressed me the most with her serious acting. In the scene where Princeton breaks up with Kate, she was just so clearly vulnerable and crushed and it broke my heart. (Although it was ESPECIALLY clear from my awesome second row seats. XD) WONDERFUL experience.

Friday night! La Cage Aux Folles. This is a bit tougher. Gary Beach and Daniel Davis were BOTH out, which was a big disappointment, although moreso for my two friends who had watched The Nanny a lot. I felt very underwhelmed by the show, in all honesty. The Cagelles, of course, were INCREDIBLE. They are the real stars of the show. And while there were some excellent moments, including "I Am What I Am," the whole production was just not as funny, entertaining, or endearing as I would have expected from such a classic show. Most of the scenes only felt competent. The best non-Cagelles moments were easily Michael Benjamin Washington's as Jacob. And that cage dancer deserves a mention all on his own. WOW.

Saturday Matinee was Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Okay, this is the show that I enjoyed the MOST. What an AWESOME show. And what an incredible performance by Norbert Leo Butz. He positively steals this show and runs wild with it. I will be cheering him at the Tonys! The rest of the cast is also excellent, and I felt truly PRIVILEDGED to see Joanna Gleason on stage. What a total class act. She just has such perfect line delivery and such a lovely voice. John Lithgow does wonderfully with his role and manages to not be overshadowed by the flashiness of Freddie's character. Sherie Rene Scott is wonderfully endearing. And I must say, even after hearing her wonderful singing on The Last Five Years and Aida CD's, I thought her voice sounded even BETTER hearing it live. Very impressive. And Gregory Jbara! Adorable, really.

Last was Wicked on Saturday night. Great show with some weak moments. I did think Avenue Q deserved the Tony above it, because I found Avenue Q to be of much more consistantly higher quality. Wicked has some definite weak songs and scenes. However, I still THOROUGHLY enjoyed myself and cried at the end. Jennifer Laura Thompson is WONDERFUL. INCREDIBLE timing and a beautiful voice. She didn't have quite the same light ease as Kristen Chenoweth on the high-high notes, but we can't all be coloraturas. She still sounded great. I thought Shashona Bean was wonderful, too. David Ayers put in a very youthful, energetic performance that made me curious to have seen Norbert's original performance, just because he's older. I was THRILLED to see George Hearn on stage, even in such an underwritten role. My biggest disappointment was actually not getting to meet him at the stage door, as he snuck straight out to a car.

So, all in all, I had a wonderful time in New York. The one place I would rather be more than anywhere else in the WORLD is in a Broadway theatre.

[OrdinaryJukebox1]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 10:10pm

Wonderful reviews (I can't say I agree with what you thought of "Wicked" but that's okay). I'm just so jealous that you got to see so many great shows back to back to back to back. I'm looking forward to seeing "DRS" and "La Cage." Hopefully when I see the latter, the original cast members will be there. They're having a horrible time with the flu, from what I've been reading. So, what made you choose those shows, if I may ask? Why not "Little Women," "Brooklyn," "Fiddler on the Roof" or any other show right now?

-Vincent

[TGIF]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 10:17pm

Thanks for the reviews - and jealous you got to see them all so close together! I agree with what you said about Avenue Q save for Barrett, I saw John so I cannot comment. Stephanie is amazing in that role, such defintion between her characters - brilliant.

I also agree with for Wicked, it has the "Wow" factor - which I admitt worked for me, but on retrospection and relfection I saw obvious flaws, its still a very fun show.

I have had plans for seeing DRS and La Cage and they both fell through, hopefully I'll be seeing them in the near future. Shame your friends missed seeing Daniel Davies. As a big "Nanny" fan, I would be crushed. How was his standby/understudy?

Again, thanks for the great reviews.

[Taryn]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 10:41pm

"So, what made you choose those shows, if I may ask? Why not "Little Women," "Brooklyn," "Fiddler on the Roof" or any other show right now?"

Well, Avenue Q and Wicked both had my interest from their CD's, which I am a fan of for both. And it was nice to be able to make a judgement on the whole Avenue Q vs. Wicked debate. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels I was really interested in seeing a lot for the cast. Plus I was a fan of the movie. But really, the cast got me SO excited. My friend and I had to really push to see that one, as the tickets hadn't gone on sale when the rest of the tickets were being bought for the trip. La Cage happened after Spamalot delayed its Broadway entrance. As a huge Monty Python fan, I was DEFINITELY going to see Spamalot, and I was a bit stuck when that fell through. So I figured La Cage was a classic show that was getting some good vibes, so I figured it'd be a good choice.

"Shame your friends missed seeing Daniel Davies. As a big "Nanny" fan, I would be crushed. How was his standby/understudy?"

Alright at best. I was very bothered that I couldn't pin down an age. It looked as if he was a younger guy trying to seem older, and that bothered me. I was impressed on the whole. Gary Beach's understudy, Bryan Batt, was much better.

As for Wicked vs. Avenue Q again... Wicked made me cry at the end because of the story. Avenue Q made me cry at the end because I was just so inspired by love of theatre. I thought that was pretty incredible.

[ShuQ]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 10:45pm

Do any stagedooring?

[Taryn]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 10:53pm

Oh, absolutely! For all but La Cage, which I didn't feel any great desire to after the disappointment and the absence of the two leads. The Avenue Q folks were all delightful, although I missed Ann Harada, Rick Lyons, and Natalie Venetia Belcon. I actually think I didn't get out in time! They really get out fast. (Jen Barnhart actually APOLOGIZED for how long it took her, and she was out in...what, ten mintes?) Barrett Foa was adorable and took our gushing very well.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was a little hectic and we only got John and Norbert. No pictures with them with the big crowd. My (much taller) friend had to take my playbill and Last Five Years CD insert and hold them out for signatures. I did try to lean around him to compliment the actors and thank them for the autographs. My friend also says that he SWORE he saw Gregory Jbara come out the door at one point, but I didn't see an inch of him. I was rather disappointed that Sherie didn't come out, as I was hoping to get both her and Norbert for my Last Five Years CD. Guess I'll just have to go back for her to complete it!

Wicked, besides the SUPREME disappointment of missing George Hearn and not having the guts to run after him, was nice. JLT came out first and was very soft-spoken and pleasant. David Ayers was similarly nice and rather humorous; when all the preteen fanatics screamed when he came out, he screamed back at them. Shosh was very nice, but I felt bad that I was pretty much crying over missing George Hearn while she signed my Playbill.

[Therese]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 10:55pm

Great trip reports, Taryn! Thanks for sharing them.

[TGIF]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 10:59pm

I may sound a bit dense but is David Ayers known for anything else? Or are the preteens just gushing because he's "Fiyero"?

[commasplice]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 11:04pm

He started out as Fyedka in the Fiddler revival, but that's all I know.

[TGIF]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 11:09pm

Ok, I wasn't sure if he was another Joey McIntyre type person.